Feedback and Fried Chicken
by Kaisa Enara
Summary: A hero and his latest rescuee talk over a latenight meal. [from Who Wants To Be A Superhero...?]


_Hi there, everybody. I know, I haven't updated anything in somewhere around a year. I feel so terrible. Really. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this._

**Feedback and Fried Chicken**

_Two figures sit in a darkened room. The first, a man dressed in black and blue, is sprawled haphazardly across a sofa, asleep. The second, a teenage girl in pajamas and a hoodie, sits in a swiveling computer chair, staring intently at the man. A clock somewhere in the room strikes two a.m. The still figure on the couch stirs._

"Oh. You're awake. You okay?"

"Where the…where am I?"

"Not in the Green Goblin's lair, if that's what you're worried about. You're at my house. I didn't want to leave you all unconscious in that alley, especially since you'd just saved my life. Thanks for that, by the way."

"All in a day's work. …I got knocked out?"

"Uh-huh. It was one of those thugs that attacked me. Once you chased them off, one of 'em threw a rock back at you. Or maybe they threw it at me, and you were in the way. I dunno. Point is though, that you ended up getting brained and you went down."

"Explains the headache."

"Yeah, and you're probably going to have a nice little baseball-sized lump tomorrow. Ice pack?"

"Sure."

"Be right back then."

_The girl gets up and exits. The sound of a freezer door opening and then closing can be heard, and she returns with an ice pack, which she hands to the man. He presses it to his forehead and grimaces._

"So what's a girl like you doing wandering around dark alleys at one in the morning?"

"I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk. And then I got hungry, so I went to the corner store for some midnight snacks, and then I went home. I kept to the alley because it's a quicker route to the house. Guess I figured that the faster I got back, the less likely I was to meet a pack of knife-wielding muggers. Hooray for irony, huh?"

"Hooray."

"Wow, no speechifying? And here I was expecting some kind of superhero-y 'and next time, don't go wandering around after dark, little girl' lecture from you."

"You look like the experience was lesson enough for you. Those are some pretty nasty scrapes."

"I washed them off. Besides, they aren't as bad as they look. I'm glad all those three did was shove me around a little before you showed up. Which reminds me: what were _you_ doing wandering around a dark alley in the middle of the night?"

_A grin from the man._

"Keeping the teenage insomniacs of the world are safe from vicious alleyway muggers."

"Yeah. Okay. Oh, I've been meaning to ask you something…"

"Yeah?"

"What exactly are you supposed to be? All I've got to go on are the karate skills—which were awesome, by the way—and the big blue F across your chest. And there are a _lot_ of words that start with F. Trust me. I read the dictionary for fun."

"Feedback."

"Oh. All right. Any superpowers, Feedback?"

"I can borrow abilities from video games. Without my suit, I disrupt electronics near me."

"Huh. That'd explain why my cell phone went haywire. I tried to call the cops while you were fighting those guys, but my phone wouldn't work."

"Sorry. Happens when I use my powers."

_Silence for several seconds. Suddenly, a low growl can be heard._

"Um, Feedback? You hungry?"

"You've done enough; you don't have to—"

"Don't worry about it. _You_ saved _my_ life, if you recall. So, feeding you? Pretty much pales in comparison. Besides, we've got a bunch of KFC left over from dinner. I could nuke a couple drumsticks and—"

"Actually, could you please…_not_ do that?"

_The girl tilts her head questioningly._

"I have microwave issues."

"And I've got a conventional oven. I'm sure we'll work something out. Heroes have to eat, too, right?"

_Several minutes later, Feedback and his benefactor sit side-by-side on the sofa, munching on fried chicken and biscuits._

"So you get your powers from video games? How does _that_ work?"

"I play for an hour, I get maybe ten minutes of borrowed powers."

"Sounds awesome."

"Then there's the part where I lose a memory every time I use my powers."

_The room goes silent, save for the sounds of Colonel Sanders's original recipe being chewed and swallowed. The clock chimes, announcing that it is now 2:15._

"I'm sorry, Feedback."

"For what?"

"Well, if I wasn't stupid enough to almost get myself mugged, you wouldn't have lost a memory."

"Don't worry about it. I know the risk of using my powers, but I choose to save people."

"Thanks, but that's not going to stop me from feeling like crap over it. I mean, if I'd stayed in, you would still be a little more of yourself than you are now, right?"

"I guess so."

_Another long stretch of silence. The girl sets her plate down on the arm of the couch and her expression darkens._

"That's really selfless of you. I don't think I'd ever be brave enough to go around saving people if I knew I'd gradually lose my mind. I mean, what'll you do when you get down to the bottom of the memory barrel?"

"Hmm?"

"Like, you've saved so many people that you don't even know your name anymore, and all you can remember is, like…your tenth birthday party or something, and that's it. Would you save one more person, or would you decide to keep the one little bit of you that you have left?"

_Feedback looks thoughtful for a long time._

"Hopefully I'll have figured out how to stop the memory loss long before I ever have to make that choice."

"Of course you will. Jeez, I'm sorry. That was such a stupid question. I shouldn't have asked. Here, I'll get that for you."

_The girl picks up both empty plates and disappears into the kitchen. A moment later she returns, only to find Feedback wearing a small smile._

"So…got any video games around here?"

"Definitely. Hope you don't mind playing with low volume, though; my dad's asleep in the other room, and if he wakes up and sees that I've brought home some guy to play video games with at two in the morning, he'll flip."

"I'm sure he'd understand if I played the I-saved-your-life card. What game do you want to play?"

"Hmm…ever heard of _Kingdom Hearts_? I bet you'll really impress your next damsel in distress by charging to her rescue, wielding the Keyblade."

_Fin_

Disclaimer: the character of Feedback is © Matthew Atherton. I am but a humble admirer.

Please review. I live for feedback.

Ouch. I keep accidentally walking into that pun. Sorry.


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